


Strategic Alliances

by cnell



Series: Turning Page Productions [6]
Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-01
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 06:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/949887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnell/pseuds/cnell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lizzie collaborates with Charlotte for the first time, Caroline sets a trap, and Darcy makes Lizzie an offer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

November 2014

 

“Domino, call Charlotte Lu at Collins & Collins.”

Lizzie bounced in her chair and drummed the edge of her desk with her fingers, waiting for the chat window to pop up on the computer screen. Charlotte took her time answering. Judging from her careful smile, she had a pretty good idea where this was headed. “Hey, Lizzie.”

“Dibs!” Lizzie exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “I am so calling dibs.”

Charlotte held up her hands in a calming gesture. “Okay, slow down. Deep breath. Aaaand what are you talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, you brilliant thing, you. Interactive online courses, revolutionizing adult education, emphasis on women and minority communities – it’s perfect. I’m featuring you on ‘Game Changers,’ you _have_ to let me, please please please.”

“I thought so.” She sighed and pressed her fingers against a stress headache over her left eye. “I’m very flattered, Lizzie, but ‘revolutionizing’ is a pretty ambitious word, first of all, and second of all, we’re partnering with Pemberley Digital. The courses will use a Domino platform. You’d be promoting your competition.”

“Hey, that’s fine. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for a good cause. William owes me like a million foot rubs, obviously, but come on, it’ll be awesome!” Lizzie outlined an imaginary banner with her hands. “Lizzie and Charlotte, the Bestie Reunion Tour! The viewers will love it.”

Charlotte smiled at her friend’s enthusiasm, but the worry line in her forehead did not go away. “It’s not even finalized yet. This project won’t go anywhere if we don’t get the funding for it.”

“You’ll totally get the funding,” Lizzie said, and started flipping through her daily planner. “This project is going to be hugely successful, anyone can see that. How’s next week looking for you?”

“Oh boy,” said Charlotte.

She managed to rein Lizzie in, but not before she admitted she was tempted by the idea. Even with Pemberley’s involvement, the online community courses were a risky move for Collins & Collins, and she was having a hard time convincing people that the famously unpredictable Domino app would be useful in a classroom setting.

Lizzie’s web series about community leaders could help Charlotte put a good spin on the situation. Lizzie had a talent for seeking out creative projects that helped people on a grassroots level, and doing interviews on location allowed her to weave a colorful story about life in the Bay Area. Businesses and organizations were approaching her in increasing numbers, seeing the videos as a way to build up their street cred with her young, web-savvy audience.

Eventually Charlotte agreed to let Lizzie do preliminary interviews with herself and members of the production team. “We’re having a project meeting in two weeks. I may as well book you in for that, too. Darcy’s going to be there and we all know what his answer’s going to be.”

Lizzie grinned. “He’s my biggest fan, what can I say. Relax, Charlotte. This is going to be so much fun.”

“Yeah, not so fast. Catherine will also be there. You guys are going to have to mend some bridges.”

“Oh.” Lizzie’s face fell. “Crap.”

The day of her visit to Hunsford, Lizzie's schedule was packed from beginning to end. She had Max, her videographer, film an intro clip while she was driving down the Bayshore Freeway, wearing sunglasses against the hazy autumn sunrise and drinking tea from a travel mug.

“So if you’re not all caught up on what happened during my last visit two years ago – in which case I kind of question your commitment to this relationship, _viewers_ – Charlotte and I made up after having a huge fight, and then I met Catherine de Bourgh, and then William told me he loved me for the first time and I had a huge fight with _him_ , and then Caroline showed up and I had a huge fight with _her_.” She raised her mug in triumph. “And now we’re all working together! Yay! I’d say I’m hoping for a little less drama this time around, but I’ve basically given up on saying that ever again.”

The Collins & Collins offices were as clean and organized as Lizzie remembered, though she was proud to notice the atmosphere felt a lot more creative and genuine under her best friend’s management. Charlotte took her on a quick tour of the new production facilities and introduced her to the project team before sitting down for their interview in the same room they had used before.

“Okay, you know the drill,” said Lizzie. “I figured we’d start with a quick recap of your history at C&C, talk a bit about the teachers who inspired the project and how it will help them, touch on your compulsive need to lecture people, all that kind of thing.”

Charlotte made a face at her. “I’m making it easier for other people to lecture people. That’s totally different.”

“Sure it is. Hold that thought.” Lizzie jumped up from her seat and peered over Max’s shoulder to check the frame. Charlotte grinned into the camera. “Well, this is a switch.”

Lizzie laughed. “Who knew, right?”

Next was the unavoidable video interview with Ricky Collins from his offices in Winnipeg. He gave her 27 minutes of footage. Lizzie guessed she could use about 45 seconds of it.

“How delightful, Miss Bennet!” he said, gesticulating like mad. (He wore a wedding ring now. Lizzie still had her doubts.) “Your fledgling enterprise can only benefit greatly from an alliance with such an illustrious and well-respected digital media company as Collins & Collins – as I am sure was your intent from the beginning. Exceedingly shrewd, as always!”

“Yes,” she deadpanned. “Oh how I have dreamed of this moment.”

The alliance was looking less shrewd by the minute as the dreaded meeting with Catherine approached. Lizzie huddled with Charlotte and Darcy in one of the meticulously-designed breakout rooms to plot a strategy for getting on the woman’s good side.

“Okay, I’m good, everything’s fine,” she muttered, tugging at her suit jacket. “Catherine just hates my guts, no biggie.”

Darcy smiled the grim smile of someone who had been dealing with Catherine all morning. “She will be civil. I have made myself quite clear on that point.”

“Think of it this way,” said Charlotte. “You’re promoting two of her investments against your own professional interests. She can’t be in that bad a mood.”

“Well, that’s super comforting.” Lizzie breathed deeply and squared her shoulders.  “I can handle this. I’m a professional. William, honey, if you keep looking at me like that I’m going to start giggling in the middle of the meeting.”

He coughed. “Sorry.”

The meeting could best be described as “not a disaster.” Catherine did not glare _too_ witheringly, Annie-kins the dog did not pee on anything, nothing was called off and no-one got fired. The only real problem was the funding for the project, which Catherine was not prepared to cover in full.

Instead, she wanted Collins & Collins to apply for a prestigious educational grant awarded every year by the state of California. If they succeeded, Catherine would make up the difference. If not, they were almost certainly screwed. “I will not be associated with anything second-rate,” she declared. “Either this project is recognized as the future of online education or it does not go forward.”

Lizzie, Charlotte and Darcy exchanged glances across the table. The grant application was due in less than a month. That meant a demo had to be ready weeks earlier than Charlotte and Darcy had planned, and Lizzie would need to turn her production schedule upside down.

As they filed out of the meeting room, Charlotte leaned close to Lizzie and murmured, “Having fun yet?”


	2. Chapter 2

Lizzie, Charlotte and Darcy interacted a lot in the following weeks, travelling back and forth between their respective offices and holding video conferences until they were almost sick of the sight of each other. Everything else had to be put on hold, and their employees were working ridiculous hours to keep up. Caroline flew in from Los Angeles to manage the budget, easing the pressure somewhat, but Lizzie still wondered if she was in over her head.

One afternoon, as they took a break from a test run to have lunch in Pemberley’s gourmet cafeteria, Charlotte sidled up to Lizzie and tilted her head at Darcy and Caroline. They were standing together in a far corner, sipping espresso and peering at a spreadsheet on Caroline’s iPad. “Those two are getting along awfully well these days.”

“I think she decided it was advisable to stay on good terms with Pemberley,” Lizzie replied, observing them with a philosophical nod. “Anyway, they can’t exactly avoid running into each other. It’s better for everyone if they can still be friends. Can we just take a moment to appreciate how mature I’m being right now?”

“So you’re not worried?”

“Why would I be worried?” Lizzie speared a cherry tomato with her fork. “Look, we’re all adults here, and William and I have a relationship built on trust and openness and honesty and if she tries anything I’ll just have to light her goddamn hair on fire.”

“Right,” said Charlotte drily. “No worries at all.”

Lizzie still didn’t know what to make of Caroline. She couldn’t exactly trust her motives after everything that had happened between them; but with tens of thousands of dollars invested in the company, Caroline couldn’t sabotage Lizzie’s efforts without hurting herself. In fact, she seemed to be banking her reputation on Lizzie’s success. It would be quite the résumé-booster, after all, if her first major investment survived competition with a giant like Pemberley.

From a business perspective, Lizzie had to admit that Caroline was a godsend. She had tidied up the company’s finances, convinced several big-name investors to throw their hats into the ring, and helped set up an advisory board to keep Lizzie’s imagination from running away with her. (Lizzie’s old interactive media professor Dr. Gardiner had signed on for quarterly meetings, delighting Lizzie to no end.) In ten months, Turning Page Productions had gone from being on shaky ground to finding its niche in the web video market.

And if nothing else, there was no better partner for a good old-fashioned bitchfest than Caroline Lee.

“This guy,” Lizzie muttered, looking daggers at a memo one of her advisors had given her earlier that day. “Why is it always this _fucking guy_ , excuse my language.”

“Oh, not at all, Lizzie.” Caroline leaned against the conference table and examined her manicure with a derisive smirk, as if the man in question was a speck of dirt under her nails. “I pride myself on knowing a complete fuckwit when I see one, and believe me, Pierce is in a class entirely by himself.”

Lizzie’s nemesis from eighteen months ago was still in business, still trying his hardest to get in her way, and now becoming the latest snag in the Collins & Collins project. Barely two days after her collaboration with Charlotte went public, Pierce had announced he was also making a bid for the grant, throwing some jabs about the “soulless corporate culture” of C&C while he was at it.

“You’ve seen his submission, haven’t you?” continued Caroline. “How mind-numbingly predictable.”

His company had put together a multimedia website to help children learn how to read. Lizzie had seen it, all right. “God, it made me want to slam my head against a wall. I mean, even if you can get past the clumsy interface, the lessons treat children like idiots and have some really screwed-up messages for girls.” She quoted the site in a mindless squeaky voice: “ _Billy’s building a bridge! Sharon’s shopping for shoes!_ Ridiculous. The only thing it’s good for is photo ops with adorable kids, which is exactly what he wants.”

Caroline flicked her long hair over her shoulder. “Unfortunately for Collins & Collins, politicians are always looking for good photo ops with children. Pierce has numerous connections with the governor’s office, from what I’ve heard.”

“It’s good that we signed on, then,” said Lizzie stubbornly. “Charlotte needs all the publicity she can get.”

“Your loyalty is adorable,” Caroline replied with her slow, curving smile, “but I’m not certain your investors see it that way. Not only are you giving free advertising to Pemberley, but you risk looking like a fool if Charlotte loses. Like you’re passing up more worthy ventures to make videos with your friend.”

Lizzie glowered, crumpling the memo and throwing it at the nearest wall. “Pierce is _not_ more worthy than Charlotte.”

“You know that and I know that…” Caroline shrugged. “I’d better go, I have a flight to catch.” She brushed off her designer skirt, then scowled as she edged her way around the table, which barely fit inside the conference room. “While we’re on the subject, Elizabeth Bennet, do you not realize how embarrassing it is to cram your advisors into this godforsaken office by the airport?”

“What?” Biting back a laugh, Lizzie looked around at the tiny, windowless suite with its harsh florescent lights. “I think it’s cozy.”

“I fail to see the humor in the situation. I swear, if you do not get us within view of a bridge and near a halfway decent coffee shop in the next year, I will be forced to _seriously_ reconsider my involvement in this company.”

“I’m sorry, Caroline.” Lizzie picked up a box of instant coffee packets and held it out to her. “Want some Nescafé?”

Caroline threw up her hands and walked away like she couldn’t even deal with her right now.


	3. Chapter 3

“I’m sorry,” Lizzie argued from her office late one night, finishing yet another dinner of microwaved leftovers, “I’m not going to spend three minutes of a seven minute video talking about Pemberley.”

The final cut was due in less than 72 hours, and right now it was a mess. In her eagerness to collaborate with her best friend and her boyfriend, she had not considered the office politics that would be involved – and that was before Catherine’s incessant meddling. She had already changed the video four times, haggling with the others over which scraps of footage put their companies in the best light.

Darcy shrugged, shuffling through the paperwork that covered his desk. He had traded his contacts for glasses and his sleeves were rolled above the elbow. “I do not see how you can avoid it. The online courses would not be possible without Domino.”

“And Domino would be useless without effective communicators,” she retorted. The inconvenience of having this debate over Domino was not lost on her, and it was getting on her nerves. “All the intuitive algorithms in the world can’t take the place of dedicated teachers who know how to connect with people.”

“All right, but romanticizing teachers does not make them any more accessible to those who need them.”

“You _would_ thi— Okay.” Lizzie sat back in her chair, took a breath, held it for three seconds and let it out. “I am very tired and about to say something stupid. Can we do this tomorrow? I have a lot of work to finish.”

Darcy’s mouth tightened, but he could recognize the thin line between bickering and an all-out fight by now. “Yes, of course. Be sure to get enough rest.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Good night, Lizzie.”

By the time she got herself to a reasonable stopping point, it was almost eleven o’clock and her head was killing her. She locked up the office and dragged herself home, where she discovered someone was throwing a kegger in the apartment next door. Her own place looked even shabbier than usual when she turned on the light, the tiny living area cluttered with drying laundry and yesterday’s unwashed dishes. The bass line from the neighbor’s speakers pounded through the wall and reverberated in her skull.

She stood in the doorway for a long moment, arms limp at her sides. Then she turned around, switched off the light and walked back out. Darcy was just going to have to deal with her bad mood.

Mercifully, the city traffic was moderate and she found a parking spot in Pacific Heights that was close to Darcy’s apartment and not sloped at a 45 degree angle. She was longing, _pining_ for his 800-thread-count sheets as she turned the elevator key and punched the button to the top floor.

When the doors opened, the first thing she saw was Darcy and Caroline standing close together in the middle of the living room. His tie was loose and he was looking at Caroline with an intent, eager expression, while she smiled triumphantly with dark red lips, holding a gin and tonic in one hand and wearing a dress so slinky and short it looked more like a negligee.

At first the scene made absolutely no sense to Lizzie. Then a wave of peaceful certainty washed over her. Clearly she had fallen asleep at her desk for the umpteenth time. This was all a paranoia-fueled dream.

Weird that she couldn’t seem to wake up, though.

They both turned toward the sound of the elevator. “Lizzie!” said Caroline, and her smile got even wider. “There you are. Have I got a treat for you.”

Lizzie was motionless for so long, the doors nearly closed in front of her. Darcy hurried over to pull her inside, taking her bag and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “We need to ask you something,” he said. “But let me promise you straight away, we won’t pressure you to participate in anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“Okay, whoa, hold on.” She dug in her heels and looked back and forth between the two of them. Either this dream was revealing some seriously kinky things about her subconscious, or she was wide awake and about to start yelling. “Would you please _very carefully_ explain what’s going on here?”

“Trust me, you’re going to love this,” said Caroline. She spread her hands and tilted her head, savoring the moment. “I just spent the evening having dinner with Pierce’s former associate Samuel Richardson – who is, of course, a complete and utter bore, but that’s beside the point. Turns out dear old Sam has some fascinating things to say about their time together.”

Lizzie was struck speechless all over again. Fortunately Caroline read her silence as admiration and waved it aside. “Please, there’s no need to thank me.”

“You convinced him to give you dirt on Pierce?” Lizzie managed at last. “How?”

“Oh, _you_ know. Flash a little cleavage and appeal to their alpha-male delusions and these self-important businessmen fold like a cheap suit.” So saying, Caroline finished her drink and dangled her glass in front of Darcy without looking at him. He raised an eyebrow and went to fetch her another.

“Now,” she said. “You know that Pierce is no stranger to winning government grants. He snatched up a generous fund last year for a charitable trust to provide lunches to undernourished schoolchildren.” She paused to roll her eyes heavenward. “Why is it always children with this imbecile.” Her glee quickly resurfaced. “Here’s the juicy part: apparently his definition of feeding children included taking his lady friends to five-star restaurants.”

In an instant, all of Lizzie’s weariness and frustration focused into a single point of righteous anger. It felt marvelous. “He charged personal expenses to a charity grant? That’s a misuse of funds.”

“Putting it lightly,” said Darcy, returning with Caroline’s drink. “By the sound of it, he narrowly avoided being charged with fraud.”

Caroline held up her phone, wriggling her shoulders like a cat getting ready to pounce. “I have every influential business reporter in the Bay Area on speed dial. One word to them and Pierce is toast by noon tomorrow.”

Lizzie looked hard at Darcy, but he had anticipated her scrutiny. “This is not a personal vendetta, Lizzie. Pemberley’s reputation is on the line this time.”

“And Charlotte’s,” said Caroline. “Catherine will not agree to any more of her clever ideas if this one falls through.”

Lizzie wouldn’t let them say another word without her best friend’s input. Charlotte was up late working and activated Domino on the second ring. They huddled around Lizzie’s phone while Caroline got Charlotte up to speed.

“If we’re going to do something, we have to do it now,” Caroline said.

Darcy met all of their eyes in turn. “I’ll only agree to this if we have everyone’s approval. What do you say, Charlotte?”

“I’m game,” said Charlotte without hesitation. “Lizzie?”

Lizzie made herself think back to everything she’d ever learned about business ethics, and then the words _Sharon shopping for shoes_ popped into her head and her mind was made up. “Let’s take him out.”

“Yes!” Caroline bounced up and down and grabbed Lizzie by the arm. “I knew you had it in you. This is going to be _delicious_.” She shoved her half-empty glass at Darcy, swept her jacket off the couch and strode toward the elevator in her stiletto heels, her phone already at her ear. Just before the doors slid closed, she locked eyes with Lizzie, struck a sultry little pose and winked. Lizzie glared back: _very funny_.

Darcy was wrapping up with Charlotte and missed the entire thing. He turned to Lizzie with open arms, smiling like she’d just made his evening. “I wasn’t expecting you…”

She stopped him, her hand flat on his chest, and stared at him. He blinked, genuinely puzzled.

“You are the most clueless man alive,” she said.

“Why? What did I say?”

Lizzie laughed and shook her head. “Never mind.” She tapped the glass in his hand and pushed him back toward the liquor cabinet. “Make it a strong one.”

He sighed. “Coming right up.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Sooooo.” Lizzie jostled Charlotte with her elbow and stole a tiny gourmet quiche off her plate. “C’mon. Who makes the bestest team ever?”

“We do,” Charlotte said, grinning. Here in Pemberley Digital’s largest conference hall, which was freshly decorated for the winter holidays and filled with the excited chatter of their colleagues, it was easy to ignore the stress of the last month.

Collins & Collins had won the grant. The Domino-based courses, widely praised for their ingenuity, would be phased in over the spring semester at a number of community colleges and prepared for a wider release later in the year.

As for Turning Page Productions, Lizzie's team finished before deadline, no-one had to work over Thanksgiving and the resulting video was something that all three companies could be happy with. Twenty minutes ago Darcy had insisted on playing the entire thing on the widescreen projector, beaming with pride and making several of his younger employees snicker behind their hands.

“Thanks for making the video,” said Charlotte, giving her friend a quick one-armed hug. “Everyone loved it.”

“I’ll say they did. You should see the fan response I’m still getting. You sent Ricky a link to that GIF set of him that was all over Tumblr, right?”

“I did. He may never shut up again.”

Lizzie laughed and gave her a double thumbs-up. “You have fun with that!”

Soon Charlotte was pulled into a discussion with Pemberley’s project manager, leaving Lizzie to her own devices. She crossed over to the refreshments table, where a dizzying array of pastries and fruit was laid out. She was so baffled by her options, it took her a moment to realize someone was standing behind her.

“Well, Liz.”

Lizzie cringed for just a second, then took a deep breath and turned around. “Hello, Catherine.” She made steady eye contact and kept a pleasant, professional smile on her face – even when Catherine picked up a ham croissant, fed it straight to the dog and obliterated Lizzie’s appetite.

The woman actually looked pleased. “So our challenger scurried away with his tail between his legs, did he?”

“That’s what I’m told,” said Lizzie, enjoying the mental image. Pierce’s PR disaster had been a thing of beauty. He wouldn’t be bothering her again for quite some time.

Catherine chortled, scratching the top of Annie-kins’ head. Then she seemed to remember herself and looked down her nose at Lizzie. “Caroline’s work, obviously. I taught her everything she knows.”

Well, it was nice while it lasted. “Of course. You must be very proud.”

After a while the crowd began to thin out, giving Lizzie an excuse to make an exit. She waved goodbye to Charlotte before making her way to Darcy, who had the same idea. “I have some time on my hands,” he said as they slipped out into the corridor. “Shall we go somewhere quiet for lunch?”

“Not so fast, you two.”

Caroline’s voice and the sharp click of her shoes rang out behind them. They turned around, startled, but she barely broke stride on her way past. She crooked a finger with one hand and tucked a leather portfolio under her arm with the other. “Come with me. I have a car waiting.”

It all happened so abruptly, they were following her before they had a chance to think about it. “William,” Lizzie whispered, “why are we taking orders from Caroline now?”

“It appears to be the natural order of things,” he murmured back.

Caroline refused to explain as the town car took them up Market and then up Battery, skyscrapers giving way to smaller office blocks and apartments. They stopped on a tree-lined street in front of a two-storey brick building with arched windows on the ground floor. She marched them up the stairs and down a hallway, pulled a key from her pocket, unlocked a door and swung it wide.

“It’s an office,” Lizzie said blankly. The open-plan space was on the small side and unfurnished, but still much nicer than what she was used to. One wall was bare brick with tall windows, while the others were a soothing shade of slate blue.

“I thought it was spoken for, but the lease fell through at the last minute.” Caroline led the way inside and turned a slow pirouette in the middle of the floor, looking extremely proud of herself. “Isn’t it darling? Plenty of natural light, a glimpse of the Embarcadero, _and_ I could have my own desk when I’m in town.” She pointed to one of several small rooms separated by a glass partition. “In there, to be precise.”

“Um,” said Lizzie. She glanced over her shoulder at Darcy, who gave her a bemused shake of the head. “I don’t know what to say…”

“Oh, don’t be coy with me.” Caroline pulled a lease agreement from her portfolio and handed it to Lizzie. “It’s an absolute steal and the improvement of your company’s image would be immeasurable. You have to take it.” With that, she walked toward the exit, checking her phone. “Darcy, talk sense into her. I’ll be downstairs. The agent will be here to collect the key in fifteen minutes.”

Lizzie was left staring after her and trying to make sense of the last half hour. “She does not let up, does she?” Her voice echoed strangely in the empty space.

“Not in my experience, no,” said Darcy.

“Well, she knows what she wants, you have to give her that.” They wandered across the floor and stepped through the doorway of what would hypothetically be Lizzie’s office, a comfortable room with a window looking out over the trees. “God, look at this place. How on earth would I afford it?”

He hesitated, then cleared his throat. “About that, Lizzie…”

“I suppose I could give up my apartment and sleep under my desk. Bathe out of the sink in the ladies’ room.”

“Or, if you preferred, you could live with me.”

His remark started casual, tripped somewhere in the middle and fell headlong into bashful eagerness at the end. She gaped at him. “Oh god, I wasn’t hinting…”

“No, of course not.”

“Are you serious?” She looked around at the expensive office and back at him, half wishing there was a chair to sink into. “Move in together? Now?”

Darcy was blushing by this point. “Well, at your earliest convenience.”

“Wow.” Lizzie put a hand to her forehead and walked toward the window. “William, this is…” Her voice trailed off as she turned toward him again. For eighteen months she’d kept a list of reasons why it was important to live alone in her shabby apartment, and all at once she couldn’t remember any of them. “Really? Are you sure?”

“Without a doubt,” he said.

The smile tugging at his mouth completely undid her. She covered her eyes and laughed. “Okay. Let’s do it. Oh my god, I’m having the strangest day.”

The next moment she felt his arms go around her and heard his teasing voice at her ear. “Are you? It seems perfectly natural to me.”


End file.
